Six years of the same old story

Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal

Arsenal were put out of their misery and dumped out the Champions League at the last 16 stage for the 6^th consecutive season as Barcelona once again proved to be too strong for the Gunners.

Having won the first leg at the Emirates Stadium 0-2, Barcelona were able to approach this game in second gear and still come out comfortable winners. In contrast to several recent matches, Arsenal did manage to pose an attacking threat, creating and spurning a number of decent half chances which could have changed the atmosphere within the stadium and made it more of a nervous night for the hosts, but this was mainly as a result of the space afforded to them by Barcelona’s natural attacking mentality.

It would have been easy for the Catalans to sit back and nullify the game, conserving their two goal lead, but that is simply not the Barcelona way. Lionel Messi described Arsenal as the side that is closest to Barcelona in terms of the philosophy of their game, but Messi’s side are simply on another planet to Arsenal. The Gunners are experiencing a distinct state of déjà vu as once again a promising season has simply unravelled in the crucial months when the top sides tend to flex their muscles and push on in search of silverware.

Arsene Wenger’s side does not possess players of the right calibre both in terms of footballing ability and mentality, to succeed at the highest level. Danny Welbeck started up front in place of Olivier Giroud at the Nou Camp and although the Englishman does offer more options as he is far more mobile, offering the threat of running in behind the opposition defence rather than just playing in front of them, Welbeck is not a world class centre forward. Arsenal have been crying out for such a player since Robin Van Persie left the club but Wenger has simply refused to pay the going rate. It must incredibly frustrate Mesut Ozil to see the openings he creates with his wonderful through passes, squandered time and time again.

With the score at 1-1 on Wednesday night Welbeck had a glorious opportunity to give the Gunners the lead on the night and really turn the atmosphere inside the stadium. A supreme striker would have taken on the shot when presented with the opportunity but Welbeck hesitated slightly and allowed Mascherano to get back and make a last ditch tackle. Against the best sides in Europe, these chances must be taken if an upset is to be caused.

In truth Arsenal played quite well against far superior opposition and in previous seasons Gunners fans could have taken some solace in the performance. But that is the problem. Arsenal have been here before, six consecutive seasons now of throwing away the first leg and then performing far better in the second leg only to fall short. Nothing has changed in that time as the Gunners shoot themselves in the foot time and time again.

It was the same on Wednesday night as they gifted the home side the lead. Having done well to gain a foothold in the game while keeping a clean sheet, Arsenal threw all their hard work away as Koscielny needlessly attempted to carry the ball out of defence, lost possession and then turned round in horror to see Neymar bearing down on goal and coolly sliding the ball home.

Mohammed Elneny did restore parity on the night with a wonderful goal to mark his first strike for the club, early in the second half but once again the Gunners couldn’t escape the feeling of what might have been. Had they not suffered that crucial lapse of concentration in the first half, the early second half strike from Elneny would have seen them right back in the tie. As it was, the Arsenal goal was nothing more than a mere consolation, the tie was already over. Sloppy mistakes in both first and second legs had made sure of that.

Luis Suarez’s wonderful volley and Messi’s excellent chipped finish sealed a 5-1 aggregate win for a Barcelona side that didn’t need to get out of second gear on the night. Ten years previously the Gunners had gone toe to toe with Barcelona in the final of this competition, having had Jens Lehmann sent off early on. Since that game the Catalans have gone from strength to strength while Arsenal have been allowed to slide into mediocrity. The whole point of building the new stadium at Ashburton Grove was so that the Gunners could grow and develop into one of the best teams in Europe and compete with the best on a regular basis. Not only have they failed to do that, but Arsenal look further away from that position than ever before.

Out of the Champions League, out of the FA Cup and no realistic hope of winning the league. Gunners fans have been in this position all too often. It is the direct result of a board that does not truly care about winning trophies but is simply happy to maintain the status quo and a manager, who as a result, does not have any pressure placed upon him to improve on what he achieved in the past two seasons. Winning the FA Cup was supposed to be a springboard to success, but instead Wenger failed to push his players with new signings and stuck with those who are clearly not good enough to win the game’s top competitions. It is not surprising therefore that Arsenal have not only failed to improve, but have actually gone backwards.